164 WINGED ROBBERS AND NEST-BUILDERS. 



hatch out the young, which at first appears a mov- 

 ing white ball of the finest silky down. It grows 

 slowly, remaining in the nest for many weeks, 

 carefully watched and fed by the parents, who 

 take turns in going to sea to capture small tender 

 squids and jelly-fish for the helpless squab. At 

 last, as if urged by some mysterious force, the 

 father and mother suddenly desert their chUd, and 

 wander for many months over the "trackless 

 ocean," far out of sight of land, but never, except 

 by accident, visiting the Northern Pacific or Atlan- 

 tic, where other species of this genus are found. 

 It does not like to fly by night. It is a beautiful 

 spectacle to see it stooping with extended wings 

 from the cloudless sky, and touching the waves 

 with almost the lightness of a feather, as it settles 

 down amongst the patches of floating seaweed or 

 in the wake of ships, to feed upon mollusks and 

 shell-fish, or the offal thrown out by the sailors. 



What keeps the baby albatross from starving 

 during the long absence of its parents is a question 

 that has never been answered. For a long time it 

 is not able to fly, and therefore cannot obtain its 

 food in the usual manner of older birds. It is 

 possible that it derives its sustenance from the sur- 

 plus fat stored in its body during the first two 



